Tian Chunda called the magazine that asked Tajima to go sketching at the beach, and someone answered the phone immediately.
"I am indeed the one who asked Mr. Tajima to go to the beach to sketch," the other party said. "Is there something wrong with that painting?"
"No, no, I just want to know the date you received the painting. Is it the day when the incident happened?"
"Incident?" the other party asked after asking. "No, I received it four days before Mr. Tajima's death."
"Four days ago? Was it really four days ago?"
"Yes. Since it was delivered by Mr. Tajima himself, I remember it very clearly."
The other party said in a confident tone that he had to believe that the painting in question was not a seaside sketch.
Tian Chunda thanked the other party and hung up the phone. The mystery was still not solved, but it had to be solved.
Maybe he was asked to paint privately? Tian Chunda thought so, but the possibility was very low, because when he and his wife were having a divorce, he probably was not in the mood to accept private commissions for paintings.
As a result, Tian Chunda thought of two possibilities. One was whether Tajima was scheduled to hold a personal exhibition? Second, the "New Century" society to which he belongs is going to hold an exhibition, and he must complete his works for the exhibition. As for the second point, as long as you meet Ji Shuichuan, the president of the New Century Society, you will definitely get the answer.
Tian Chunda decided to meet with Ji Shuichuan in order to inquire about painting, Tajima and Guan Lin.
Ji Shuichuan's house is a very spacious mansion with an area of more than 200 square meters. Tian Chunda stood in the marble entrance and thought that it would be easy for a painter to make money, right?
As soon as he entered the entrance, the first thing that greeted Tian Chunda were two black-backed dogs. Tian Chunda remembered that Ji Shuichuan liked dogs. As soon as the dog disappeared, a tall young man appeared. The young man took Tian Chunda to the Western-style reception room. The heater was very hot. Tian Chunda sat down on the sofa covered with cushions and waited for Ji Shuichuan.
Ji Shuichuan walked into the reception room wearing a bright red sweater. His white hair matched the red sweater. Although he was fifty-six years old, he still looked young and his face was rosy. Tian Chunda remembered that he had seen photos of Ji Shuichuan.
After Ji Shuichuan sat down on the sofa, he held a cigarette in his mouth, a foreign cigarette.
“Only the Dongyang Society will hold an art exhibition in November, and the Dongyang Society has nothing to do with this society,” Ji Shuichuan said.
"Does Tajima plan to hold a solo exhibition?"
"I've never heard of it. Tajima only held a solo exhibition in the spring. I've never heard of an exhibition being held in the fall." Yoshimizukawa said calmly.
Tian Chunda felt a little disappointed because he still had no way of knowing what Tajima had painted the day before the incident. Tian Chunda changed his mind. Although the word "finished" naturally reminds people of painting, the work that can be expressed by "finished" is not just painting. Sculpting and photography can also be used.
"Besides painting, does Tajima also engage in sculpture or photography?"
"I haven't heard of it." Ji Shuichuan immediately denied. "Tajima doesn't have that talent, does he?"
Tian Chunda had to believe what Ji Shuichuan said, because he did not receive a report that carving tools and photographic equipment were found in Tajima's studio and study.
However, questions still lingered in his heart. What did Tajima want to accomplish the day before the incident? Isn't it Yi Ji who is talking nonsense?
Tian Chunda changed the topic.
"You know Guan Lin, who was also a member of the New Century Society, right?"
"Yes, I know you." Ji Shuichuan nodded and said. "After he left the New Century Society, I received a letter from him. In the letter, he said that he would now concentrate on running the hotel and no longer paint."
"In your opinion, what kind of person is Guan Lin?"
"That's a really hard question to answer."
Ji Shuichuan rested his chin on his hand, looking thoughtful, with a smile still on his face.
Tian Chunda remembered that there was a report describing Ji Shuichuan as the "leader". As a "leader", people would not speak ill of members. He was probably thinking of appropriate lines now, right?
"His painting skills are very good," Yoshikawa said. Tian Chunda was very dissatisfied with this evasive answer.
"Is that just this? If there is an unknown side, I hope you can tell me."
"Well...I didn't want to say it originally, but since you want to know, I'll tell you. His paintings have no personality, which is a fatal injury to the painter. No matter what he paints, because he has no personality, So you can tell at a glance that it was painted by Guan Lin.
"Maybe he also discovered this shortcoming and stopped painting."
"Comparing the dead Tajima and Guan Lin, who is better?"
"These two men couldn't be more different."
Ji Shuichuan lit his second cigarette. There was a blush on his face, maybe he was interested.
"Guan Lin attaches great importance to painting skills. Among all the members, only Tajima does not pay attention to painting skills.
"You can see the interpersonal relationships through painting. I think it is probably because of his painting attitude that other members think he is willful and arrogant and stay away from him."
"Is it because he is a self-taught painter and the other members look down on him and stay away from him? Because almost all the members of the New Century Society are from the American University." Tian Cunda said without thinking.
Ji Shuichuan frowned.
“People who love art don’t value academic qualifications so much.”
Although Ji Shuichuan said so, it was difficult to convince others due to his weak voice.
"In short..." Yoshimizu River seemed unwilling to talk about this issue any more, so he concluded, "Although Tajima does not have good painting skills, he makes up for this shortcoming with a strong personality. Because Tajima paints what he wants to paint Painting made him famous in the painting world."
"How's the relationship between these two people?"
"We are very good friends. In my opinion, Guan Lin is the elder brother and Tajima is the younger brother. Tajima considers himself a country bumpkin, but Guan Lin is very worldly."
"You said Tajima considers himself a country bumpkin. What's going on?"
"Tajima is a child of a peasant family. Since he did not come from a major, he lacks some knowledge about painting.
"As a painter, you should be very clear about the properties of oil painting pigments. For example, there are many kinds of white, such as silver white, zinc white, antimony white, etc. How to use these complex colors to increase the effect of painting, the painter should be very clear. In addition, solvents are also important.
"Pigments don't just need to be dissolved. Some solvents are highly volatile and some are very slow. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it is difficult to use them.
However, Tajima did not know much about these and only used the paints he knew how to use, which shows that he did not have extensive knowledge about painting.
"Because of his lack of knowledge, he boasted that as long as he had five kinds of paint, he could paint."
"Where's Guan Lin?"
“Guan Lin and Tajima are completely opposite.
